AncientNewbie

The early bit with the flaming weasel and the furniture fire....I know I've seen that in a movie, but I can't figure out where. Or maybe another tv show and that's why I can't think of the movie. Either way, it bothers me that (1) I can't remember it and (b) this seemed so very similar. I try to grade intro eps on a softer scale, because there are always a lot of people to introduce and a need to hit a few different emotional notes maybe not required in a typical ep. So I'll be back, but I have to admit to being a little underwhelmed. McHale just seemed to be angrier Jeff Winger, Ravi Patel just seemed sad, I didn't understand why they have a civilian boss and the other precinct has a uniformed boss, and just general pedantic nitpickiness about how it all works.

I liked, but not loved, this one. Some cute moments and some emotional moments but not a lot of hilarious moments. Which is not really a bad thing...character growth requires conflict and if we don't have that, we end up with increasingly outlandish scenarios and cardboard characters. I liked the end moment, where Sam was trying to ignore the ghosts in order to give Jay a nice Valentine's dinner. After she took advantage of him a bit earlier, it was nice to see her giving back. They do write them as a good couple.

I could have lived with any of the final three winning. A nice career capstone for two of the women, even if they won't actually go away; yet another win for the GOAT argument for two of the men, and then a team that had really grown on me lately (even though "what's 8 times 9 Josh?" endeared Devin to me previously.) I did feel the choppy editing taking me out of it. I know there were events that didn't air from earlier eps, so I wonder what happened this time around. If they were selling the 100 hours, I wanted to see 100 hours (not literally) of activity and suffering. In the end, I'm good with the win. These two have been solid competitors for a few years and have lost their AYTO origins to really blend into the world of Challenge vets.

The Apartment may have been the weakest of the episodes for me. The ADA just isn't doing it for me and the weird little clerk lacks any character. That said, it still feels like Night Court even when it's off, with Dan having some good stuff and the gag of Abby tossing her desk reminding me of the old show. Not to mention the other legal show I watch really was hugely unbelievable this week, so it really makes some of the silly more acceptable.

Conflicts of interest, yes. Happen all the time. Representing both sides in a case? ABA Model Rules and Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct both disallow it.

I've seen (and done IRL) splits inside a firm/agency where someone is walled off from working a case due to some conflict. I just can't wrap my suspension of disbelief around a firm splitting to take both sides of litigation...even if it's just in-house practice and not actually going to court on it, it strains credibility because it's such a huge red flag in my jurisdiction. It made for a few fun spots in the episode but my lawyer brain (sort of like a reptile brain, but tackier) just couldn't let it go.

Last week I said I can handwave away legal stuff as I can pretend it's just the Oregon way to do things, but the whole idea of splitting the firm to avoid conflict when on both sides of a case?!?!? I'm pretty sure that doesn't fly in any state. So that was a big strike for me against what was an otherwise decent episode. I'm not sure I get Todd at all, if I'm already in the mood to complain. I get the man-child with mommy issues, but I would expect him to be more competent at his job instead of just potentially criminal impersonation and eavesdropping again and again. So this episode when he at least followed A to B to body, I could appreciate the detecting despite the usual nonsense. I did like MGH and Gus. If Todd's character growth seems stalled, she at least seems to be branching out some. I liked the bit a few episodes ago where she saw how the senior partner still saw her as his assistant, despite her accomplishments. I'd like MGH to have more to do with the class conflict she might feel, where maybe she's so proper and polished because she is playing the role she thinks is expected. That ties in well with her children all having identity issues as well. Have we ever learned much about the late husband? I would be interested in what he did and how that fits with their upbringing and (apparently newly) acquired status.

I'm not big on the extended vomit scenes, but I'll give them credit for some parts of the spaghetti checkpoint. There were good shots of various horrified expressions, either from the food or from Johnny's new pocket contents. Like I've said before, I have an inexplicable soft spot for Nany, even after all these years, so watching her be a beast was well received in our house.

I can fansplain Allison doing community service on the road as another way to lash out, or lash in, and try to upset her "perfect" life with putting herself in a bad situation. Basically, though, I'm glad this isn't in NY, where I actually know the laws relating to practicing medicine (or practicing law) and can just wave away ludicrous things with "oh, well, OR." I didn't get the governor at all this week. I hope there's a payoff and not just poor acting/directing choices. It would be interesting to me if her coldness towards Margaret was yet another symptom of Lawrence being another messed up Wright kid, because there could be some opportunity for the two mature women of the cast to react about family. This show is watchable fluff for me but it needs some resolution to the messed up kids/Margaret's career focus/adult choices stuff so the characters can grow a little more and try to be adults.

I have some Nany tolerance because she is from the same town as my spouse and wouldn't mind seeing her finally have a victory. Even if it means 8 for JB. At this point, what's one more for him? They really reminded me of an old married couple this episode. Some might see bad communication or pointless arguments, but I just see my childhood with my parents bickering just to fill space. I am not well, I suppose. I felt bad for Olivia, but no one is ever going to say she's not a vet now. She came off as really tough despite the injuries. Really, I could live with any of the remaining teams winning. There's no one I love and no one I hate. Each of them forwards the story of The Challenge in some way as longtime players, so I'll take whatever I get. Except more blood.

In the media thread, someone posted a tweet from Marsha highlighting a review that said the show needed Roz back. I'd welcome her back, as Roz could be a great audience surrogate to connect the two generations of activity in the more passive way the bailiffs always had of observing the activities. That said, I'd also welcome her in an updated role--she'd be retirement age and eligible for a pension, so why would she still be in the court? (Posed as a question for the writers...I can create any number of suggestions why she is or isn't, but I want more than her just rolling in like it's any other Tuesday. Unless we play that for laughs and everyone continues like she's just been on her break.) I think the biggest thing for me yet, and it is too early to really see it, is the intangible "heart." It's not just the characters caring about each other, which needs to develop over time, but the "heart" the creators and writers imbued into the show. Laroquette oozes authenticity in any role and I can get widower Dan rebuilding himself. But the rest of them are sort of blank slates. I'm willing to let them be anything--let this new clerk hate his job and be in it for the benefits; let this ADA be overqualified for night courts and acting out, whatever they want--I just need something to develop where they have layers.

IIRC, they originally wanted Post for the role, but she was under contract to the Fall Guy (a Lee Majors vehicle...remember him? I'm so old. Sigh.) After she was out of contract they returned to Plan A. To return to this decade, I always have a "meh" for pilots, because they have to cram introductions, comedy and some snippet of pathos in there for execs to see the whole palette of what they are offering. Biggest take away from the first couple for me is that I'm still not getting who Abby is, other than a surrogate (judge joke two people would get being skipped...) for Harry as the iconoclast on the bench. Night Court holds a special place for me as a lawyer. It often doesn't get the law right, but at the same time, the interactions between staff and lawyers are more like my daily work than the stuffy world of L&O.

It's certainly shallower than the original, at least at this point...I enjoyed Dan and Abby bonding and hope there's some meat for the actors out of such interactions. For as much as I love the original, I have to remember that there were some misses among the eps and that this will need to find it's feet. And I'm not for endless callbacks to the original, but John Astin in 92...let's get him on the show while we can. One minor quibble, and Night Court is usually better than most at this stuff...but court staff in New York would have Court ID and/or Secure Passes to bypass security screenings. They wouldn't be generally waiting in line, at least in any court where I've worked.

Buh-bye Maysal Faysal. I'm sure we'll hear on tweets or at the reunion how he will claim it was rigged against him, but if he were really the elite NFL-level athlete he claims to be, he'd have done something during the elimination. I'm good with the final four. Admittedly, I have a soft spot for Nany that is increasingly undeserved because she went to the same HS as my spouse. And my feelings for Johnny wax and wane depending on how much I recall JEK and he posted something recently with the three of them hanging out, so... If I had to pick, Tori and Devin are the most well-rounded pair and, both as MTV AYTO products with a lengthy history, have the best Ride or Die story of the four. So that's my hope for next week. For now, anyway.

I was really surprised, in an early episode repeating yesterday, to see Steve Kroschel. They focused so much on him last (?) season that I thought he was a relatively new phenomenon.

I admit to finding Bananas laughing about Aneesa way too amusing. His unbridled joy was just too much, even if he is a junior high boy sometimes. I have a feeling they'll keep bringing Faysal back until he wins one, and this might be it, but I hope I get a break from him eventually.

I don't expect consistent editing from The Challenge but I can't figure out Maysal Faysal's storyline this season. I'd like to think he's totally the heel cruising for a comeuppance because he's so smug, so unconnected to Moriah, etc., but it would also be like this show to give us a season of that and then have him win. Congrats to Horacio, though. That was a solid win in a classic game. Seeing Balls In again did trigger a lot of "What are the rules? But what are the rules?" a la Jay from our couch, though.

@Medicine Crow I liked Dr. Emily too, but I had the feeling she was done with tv vet medicine. I would never object to seeing her again, but, then again, I watch all the vet shows so what's one or two more...

I'm all for a Dr. Lisa spinoff. She's my favorite.

@seacliffsal that's a good season in my memory. Maybe not top 5 for me, because my ranks constantly rearrange, but a very good one. I don't like how Stephen gets dragged at final tribal for considering very valid game moves, but otherwise it's a favorite. I do wish Erin had returned. I thought she had a lot of potential and liked she outlasted so many.

While the dynamic of the show has changed some in recent years, forethought has never been the strong suit for most Challengers.

I admit I fell for the button pressing at the end and was surprised by her misspelling. Nice work, editors, for going deeper than usual on the presentation of events. TJ laughing at Faysal will never get old for me. I could watch that all day. And I blame Devin for taking that away from me.

Second. They have a little boy as well. Probably tempers some of Zach's disappointment in having a girl that the boy was firstborn.

Maybe it's my new larger tv, but I never noticed Maysal Faysal's acne scars before. Part of me wonders if it's an editing choice to portray him with less polish than previous seasons, like the editors are now in on making him the villain. Jordan is ridiculous, but I loved the "terrorists" line because I love the Challenge when it is ridiculous. We don't get enough Stupid Brigade in these newer seasons. Ah, Nelly...I was running scenarios between the four once they lost and couldn't see a way he'd be safe unless he drew the dagger. The bonds of the others just overpowered his ties. Not even the consequisences of his actions, as he so eloquently put it.

This is one of the few scripted shows I'm watching these days and these two episodes really sold why. Just clever and heartfelt. And a lesson to always let the electricians work on the sconces.